Projected climate change impacts on skiing and snowmobiling: A case study of the United States
Citation:
Projected climate change impacts on skiing and snowmobiling: A case study of the United States. Global Environmental Change. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Impact/Purpose:
Estimate the physical and economic impact of climate change on winter recreation in the contiguous U.S.
Description:
A physically-based water and energy balance model is used to simulate natural snow accumulation at 247 winter recreation locations across the continental United States. We combine this model with projections of snowmaking conditions to determine downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling season lengths under baseline and future climates, using data from five climate models and two emissions scenarios. The present-day simulations from the snow model without snowmaking are validated with observations of snow-water-equivalent from snow monitoring sites. Projected season lengths are combined with baseline estimates of winter recreation activity to monetize impacts to the selected winter recreation activity categories for the years 2050 and 2090.
